ThinkOrSwim (TOS) is one of the most popular trading platforms, and importing your data into Practice—Process is straightforward. This guide walks you through the complete process.
Step 1: Access Your Trade History in ThinkOrSwim
1Open ThinkOrSwim desktop application
2Navigate to the Monitor tab at the top of the screen
3Click on Activity and Positions in the left sidebar
4You'll see your recent trading activity displayed
Step 2: Export Your Trades to CSV
1In the Activity and Positions view, click the Menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top right corner
2Select Export to File from the dropdown menu
3Choose your date range:
For initial setup, we recommend exporting at least 3 months of history
You can export up to 2 years of historical data
4Select CSV as the file format
5Click Save and choose a location on your computer
Step 3: Import into Practice—Process
1Log into your Practice—Process account
2Navigate to Settings → Import/Export
3Click Import Trades
4Select ThinkOrSwim as your broker from the dropdown
5Click Choose File and select your exported CSV
6Review the preview to ensure your trades are correctly formatted
7Click Import
Field Mapping
Practice—Process automatically maps ThinkOrSwim fields to our system:
| ThinkOrSwim Field | Practice—Process Field |
|---|
| Symbol | Instrument |
| Side | Direction |
| Qty | Position Size |
| Price | Entry/Exit Price |
| Date/Time | Timestamp |
| Commission | Fees |
Handling Options Trades
If you trade options, ThinkOrSwim exports include the full option symbol. Practice—Process:
Parses the underlying symbol automatically
Groups option trades with their underlying for analysis
Displays the strike and expiration in trade details
Handling Partial Fills
ThinkOrSwim sometimes shows multiple rows for partial fills on the same order. Our import system:
Detects partial fills based on order ID
Automatically aggregates them into single trades
Calculates the average fill price
Troubleshooting
"No trades found in file"
Ensure you exported from Activity and Positions, not Account Statement
Check that the date range includes actual trades
Verify the file is in CSV format (not PDF)
"Date format error"
TOS uses MM/DD/YYYY format
Ensure your system locale hasn't modified the date format
Try re-exporting the file
"Duplicate trades detected"
If you've previously imported trades, we'll detect duplicates
You can choose to skip duplicates or overwrite existing entries
Automatic Sync (Pro Feature)
For Pro users, you can enable automatic synchronization:
1Go to Settings → Broker Connections
2Click Connect ThinkOrSwim
3Authorize read-only access
4Set your sync frequency (real-time, hourly, or daily)
Your trades will automatically flow into Practice—Process, ready for journaling and analysis.